Did babys weight affect your ability to successfully VBAC?

I had a growth scan today and the doctor says my baby is measuring at 5 lb 11 oz and I'm 32 weeks 😬 he said baby could be around 9 lbs at birth and since I had a CS with my first, we aren't sure if I'm *able* to birth a 9 pound baby.

So, now I'm concerned about how the VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean section) will go with a big baby and about a uterine rupture due to excess fluid that I am carrying. The doc said a uterus rupturing due to excess fluid does not have the data behind it but that it COULD be a cause.

Comments (19)

No experience, but I'll try to add some thoughts. First you have to recognize that no one ever says to a first time mom, "we don't even know if you can birth a baby, since you've never done it before." You odds are basically as good as any first time mom.

Was there a reason you had a growth scan? The estimate could easily be off by half a pound, plus you could easily deliver at 38 weeks rather than 40 weeks, and you'd have a nice average-size baby. You really won't know until the baby is out.

It is true that uterine rupture rates are higher with birth weights over 9 lbs. Overall VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean section) success rates are also generally lower for larger babies, even outside of rupture.

I'd focus on what you can control. Good diet and exercise. Minimize interventions during labor. Labor in upright positions - this might mean avoiding epidural anesthesia. Squatting is especially useful for opening the pelvis, allowing even very large babies to fit through. Avoid delivering on your back.

No experience, but I'll try to add some thoughts. First you have to recog...

Posted
08/09/2018

No experience, but I'll try to add some thoughts. First you have to recognize that no one ever says to a first time mom, "we don't even know if you can birth a baby, since you've never done it before." You odds are basically as good as any first time mom.

Was there a reason you had a growth scan? The estimate could easily be off by half a pound, plus you could easily deliver at 38 weeks rather than 40 weeks, and you'd have a nice average-size baby. You really won't know until the baby is out.

It is true that uterine rupture rates are higher with birth weights over 9 lbs. Overall VBAC success rates are also generally lower for larger babies, even outside of rupture.

I'd focus on what you can control. Good diet and exercise. Minimize interventions during labor. Labor in upright positions - this might mean avoiding epidural anesthesia. Squatting is especially useful for opening the pelvis, allowing even very large babies to fit through. Avoid delivering on your back.

Growth scan was due to excess amniotic fluid. I've been going to a mfm regularly since my 28th week. The mfm thinks the excess fluid is because baby will be "big" since it doesn't seem to be caused by anything else.

I've been wondering tho...if the head is measuring in the upper 90% can that skew their overall weight estimates? When the tech took the measurements for the femurs and the stomach, those were somewhere within the 32 - 33 week mark but the head was around 36 week. My dd (dear daughter) had a bigger head too throughout her babyhood lol

Growth scan was due to excess amniotic fluid. I've been going to a mfm re...

Posted
08/09/2018

Growth scan was due to excess amniotic fluid. I've been going to a mfm regularly since my 28th week. The mfm thinks the excess fluid is because baby will be "big" since it doesn't seem to be caused by anything else.

I've been wondering tho...if the head is measuring in the upper 90% can that skew their overall weight estimates? When the tech took the measurements for the femurs and the stomach, those were somewhere within the 32 - 33 week mark but the head was around 36 week. My dd had a bigger head too throughout her babyhood lol

Hmmm.... I'd assume they use an algorithm based on a combination of measurements to come up with a weight estimate, but I've never bothered to look into it since I've never had a growth scan myself. I think it's reasonable to assume that each baby's unique proportions could contribute to error in the estimate though. That's a good sign that you don't seem to be measuring too far ahead though!

Following because I have a growth scan tomorrow since I’m measuring big. My dr seems to be doing the bait and switch on me, so I have a feeling I’m about to here the same thing about my wish to VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean section)

Doctor is planting seeds of doubt. Are you sure this doctor is vbac supportive, or merely vbac tolerant?

The only way to know how much this baby will weigh at birth is to weigh it once it's out. Anything before that is just a guess. My baby who was said to be "well over 8 pounds" at 38 weeks, came out 2 weeks later weighing 6 lbs, 9.5 oz. I highly doubt baby went on a diet in there.....the weight guestimate was just that wrong.

The only way to find out if you can birth a baby of XXX lbs size is to try. Like pp said, it would be kind of absurd to tell a first time mom that you don't know if she can birth a certain sized baby, so she better just have a c/s. That's just stupid. It happens, but it's stupid.

If your doctor is merely tolerant, they may be trying to get you to doubt yourself so you sign up for the rcs like a good little girl.

I had a 9 pound baby when I had my VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean section) I got a little help from the Dr. But I only pushed for 1.5 hours.
Labor and delivery went great.
What percentile is the baby now.?
My boy was 95 percentile in the 35 week growth scan.

I had a 9 pound baby when I had my VBAC I got a little help from the Dr. Bu...

Posted
08/09/2018

I had a 9 pound baby when I had my VBAC I got a little help from the Dr. But I only pushed for 1.5 hours.
Labor and delivery went great.
What percentile is the baby now.?
My boy was 95 percentile in the 35 week growth scan.
Dont let this stop you.

They're guessing hes 5 lbs 11 oz at 32 weeks, so somewhere in the 90th percentile. But like I said in a previous comment, the head was measuring in the upper 90s% while the stomach and femur were measuring about a week ahead. So idk what algorithm they use to determine a weight based off measurement but was curious if something measuring in the upper 90s would skew the whole weight estimate.

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